This invention relates to an improved carpet tile for commercial, industrial or home use. This carpet tile interlocks with adjacent like carpet tiles to form a durable flooring surface, portions of which may be easily replaced.
Carpet tiles have become useful in covering large floor areas. Installation labor cost is saved because commercial installers are not needed to place large strips of carpet. Areas of heavy wear may be repaired simply by replacing carpet tiles rather than removing and installing whole sections of carpet. Transportation and storage of carpet tiles is easier than transportation and storage of entire rolls of carpet.
Earlier carpet tiles have utilized projections and indentations along their edges which cooperate with projections and indentations on adjacent tiles to hold the tiles in place. U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,749 issued Dec. 31, 1974 to Yoshida, for example, discloses a carpet plate comprising a processed fiber material such as cloth, felt or the like which is laminated onto a base of foamed polymer consisting mainly of ethylene. The plate has a plurality of concavities and convexities on all of its side surfaces. These concavities and convexities fit with the concavities and convexities of adjoining plates fo form a floor covering. These plates require a fairly intricate cutting process to form the relatively large number of concavities and convexities on all sides, and this relatively large number of projections on these plates provides a greater likelihood that portions of the carpet tiles will curl or delaminate.
Another form of carpet tile is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,051, issued Apr. 4, 1972 to Bieler. These tiles have complex complementary irregularities along all edges to insure a homogeneous appearance with concealed edges when installed. Because of the shape of these irregularities, these tiles may be oriented in only one direction with respect to other such tiles.
Other floor covering tiles having irregular sides which cooperate with one another are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,693 issued Sept. 8, 1981 to Collette, U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,168 issued Oct. 23, 1979 to Klaffke, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 1,158,051 issued Oct. 26, 1915 to Hopkinson. The projections of the tiles of these patents have acute angles which will provide inadequate support for face yarn at the acute corners or edges of the tiles, and thereby fail to retain such face yarn and contribute to curling or warping of such projections or edges.